We had our first day of visiting the temples today. Not Angkor Wat itself but a couple of the 200 in the area. They were magnificent. The history involved means that there are a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist influences and some are particularly spectacular. Intricate carvings, lots of meanings, the way they moved the rocks and materials huge distances using just manpower in all weathers. We had fun thinking up random photos to take among all the learning. :) Another hot day though so ice cream was needed and a shady stop for lunch. In the afternoon a further away temple very well preserved in sandstone which made it pink and yellow. On the way back we visited a landmine museum which supports the clearance of landmines as well as supporting children affected by them. We also stopped to see sugar cane being made into palm sugar. Our final temple involved a set of steep steps :-/ The idea was to see the sunset and we waited a long time but only clouds :( Instead we had a lovely group chat in a beautiful setting on top of a thousand year old building. Still a pretty cool place to be :) Dinner by the pool tonight ready for an extra early start :-/

Up at 4am!!! Off to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Now, we haven't been overly lucky with sunrises or sets so far. Every one we have tried to catch has been overcast so we did have our fingers crossed. We were in luck. A spattering of rain but clearer over the iconic temple view and a pretty good reflection on the water :) We then cleverly stayed to go round the temple, as most went back to their hotels for breakfast. It was less crowded in the temple so we had plenty of room to look around. There were amazingly carved story walls about battles, Gods, several layers of heaven and hell and all sorts from the Hindu religion. Up to the top to see the Buddah statues and the views as well. What an incredible place. We crossed back over the bridge as many many more tourists were flooding in. Back for breakfast and a quick turnaround to go out to our final temple. The one where they filmed Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider if that helps. Lots of old ruins and massive trees roots growing round them. Strangely this one had the nicest atmosphere about it somehow :)

All templed out we were left to our own devices for the afternoon. A bit of wandering, swimming and eating and then a few of us headed into town. We met up with a couple of young girls just arrived at the hotel and we took them in by tuk tuk. We had fun showing them the food markets and teaching them how to haggle. It was great realising how much Id learned :D A bit more shopping and then we met the others for tea, cocktails included. Our last night in Cambodia. A few of us still had some energy for the night market, mostly to haggle over scarves :) And then we were all done in.